Leveling Bedroom Floor (many high spots)

[Jeff Lee]

I plan on using vinyl for my bedroom floors. Problem is, when we removed the old wood flooring (square blocks), there is leftover adhesive (cement?) on about 25% of the room. What is the most effective method in flattening/leveling out the floor?

[John Lee]

Regarding the thinset, I'd go with a more heavy-duty rotary grinder. I walked into the Home Depot tool rental department and explained what i needed and they guided me to the right attachment. It's diamond coated, has a few more blades than the link I posted, and the blades are thicker. Used to remove excess concrete, mortar, etc. Just be sure to use it with water or a vacuum attachment (it creates a huge dust cloud otherwise -- know this from experience!).

For tile to vinyl -- you would likely need a reducer molding. Vinyl is one of the thinnest flooring choices (although it is pretty sturdy). It will sit lower than the tile, so molding like this would work:

They didn't have this type of molding for the vinyl plank that I used, so I just chose an equivalent laminate floor color and got the molding for that.

If the tile and vinyl are close to the same height, you could just use a T-molding. Also, I have seen people just use grout or caulk and it turned out OK, as long as the level change is not too extreme.